Thinking Out Loud with Alan Shlemon - Should We Downplay the “Clobber Passages” on Homosexuality?

Episode Date: October 14, 2019

Alan talks about the six verses in Scripture that address homosexuality and how pro-gay theology advocates love to call them “clobber passages.” Download the mp3...

You've probably heard it said by a progressive Christian or someone else who advances pro-gay theology. In fact, I've heard it many times, and it goes something like this. I want to talk about what the Bible says about LGBTQ plus people, but I'm not going to focus on the clobber passages that conservative right-wing Christians love to judge gays and lesbians with, because after all, the Bible says so much more than that. and lesbians with? Because after all, the Bible says so much more than that. Now, the so-called clubber passages that these people are referring to are six passages in scripture that directly address the subject of homosexuality. So I'll just mention the six of them. Genesis 19 verses 4 through 25, which is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's a well-known passage.

Leviticus 18.22 says, you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female. Leviticus 20.13 says, if there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act. have committed a detestable act. Romans 1, 20, 60, 27. It says a lot, but I'll just give you a smaller shortened version of what it says. It says the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another. Men with men committing indecent acts. You have also first Corinthians 6, 9 through 11 says, And it goes on to name a number of other people. It says, And then 1 Timothy 1, 9 through 10 says, Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching. Okay.

So those are the six passages that these people are referring to as clobber passages, right? Now, according to advocates of progate theology, focusing only on these six passages limits your perspective about what Scripture says about sex, and specifically homosexuality. And if you look beyond these verses, what these people say, right, is that they say you'll find that God has much, much more to say about sexuality and is affirming towards gays and lesbians. You just simply need to look past these clobber passages.

Now, first of all, let me agree with one point here. Yes, there are and have been Christians who have ungraciously, and I would add hypocritically or condescendingly, used those six verses against people who identify as gay and lesbian. Any verse, however, can be used in an uncharitable manner, right? That would be a sin no matter which verse is used and who abuses the text. But referring to them as clobber passages is wrong, That would be a sin no matter which verse is used and who abuses the text. But referring to them as clobber passages is wrong,

because these verses are still the words of the living God, the creator of the universe and the author of life. They are no less true than any verse in the Bible. And though a person may use them to clobber, the verses themselves are inherent holy writ, right? They're God-breathed. They're useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, right? As 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 says.

And so, therefore, they can't be simply dismissed by name-calling them. Now, allow me to agree on another point here, and that is, yes, Scripture does have more to say about sex and gender and marriage and sexuality than in just those six passages. In fact, I'd say it says a lot more, right? There's 31,102 verses in the Bible, and only six of them are specifically addressing homosexuality. Okay, that's only 0.019%. God's Word, from Genesis to Revelation, is full of verses that give more detail and nuance to our sexual ethics. But what you'll discover, though, is that the additional verses only serve to strengthen the view that sexual activity ought to occur only within a man-woman marriage, thereby ruling out homosexual sex by definition.

So, for example, Genesis 1, 27-28 and Genesis 2, 24 describe how God creates man and woman, which is a sexual binary, and ordains them to leave their parents and cleave to one another to become a one flesh union. Indeed, a man and a woman are the only people in Scripture that are capable of creating a one flesh union. No other person, no other pair, no other group of people can achieve that oneness. And I would add that Jesus quotes these two verses in Matthew 19 because he believes they are still binding during the New Testament era. In other words, we can't just dismiss them simply because they're part of the Old Testament or the Old Covenant. And so, as you can see, the more you dig into the details of what the Bible says about sexuality, the more

you discover that homosexuality is indirectly ruled out. Now, that doesn't mean we ignore the six passages that address the topic of homosexuality directly. After all, they do speak negatively about homosexual sex. And so that's because those verses are still relevant. And so you can't give a complete picture of what Scripture says about homosexuality without factoring these verses into your assessment. And I'll add here that everyone really should extend kindness and grace when navigating this subject, or really any sensitive subject, lest we be guilty of using Bible verses to clobber people. We want to reflect the truth and grace that was evident in the ministry of Jesus.